Fuel delivery systems which employ an in-tank pressure regulator are susceptible to fuel pressure pulsations. These pulsations result from the sequential firing of fuel injectors mounted on the fuel rail. Typically, an energy absorbing device, such as a damper, is mounted on the fuel rail to compensate for the pressure pulsations. A damper of this type is disclosed in commonly-assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/086,084, entitled “Fuel Rail Damper”, filed, May 28, 1998, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The damper is secured to a fuel cavity, typically a fuel cup, on the fuel rail using a retention clip of the type disclosed in the commonly-assigned, co-pending application identified above. The circular clip is attached to the damper along an outer circumference, and has a number of resilient fingers arranged on an inner circumference. The fingers fit around an upper surface of the fuel cup to securely retain the damper in place on the fuel rail.
Because of the arrangement of the fingers around the inner circumference of the clip, it is very difficult to disengage the clip from the fuel cup with conventional tools. A tool is needed which can disengage the retention clip by forcing all of the resilient fingers out of contact with the fuel cup simultaneously, and allow the damper to be removed.